Photo Credit: Buenosia Carol via www.pexels.com

If you do not work from home usually, this may be the longest you have ever spent in your home throughout the day. We are now a few weeks into isolation, and you may be finding yourself getting into a routine and settled in a bit better. One thing that you may have not gotten fully under control yet is the cleaning and tidying your home (because let’s be honest, we are not having visitors around any time soon anyway).

But alas, it is something which needs to be kept on top of (no one wants a messy backdrop for their video conferences) and can be done easily with these few tips.

Find your office zone

Pick a spot in your house that you want to be your work zone. You may have a home office, live in a studio apartment, or have more than one person needing a desk at home – whatever your situation is, find a space for your work that works for you. Ensure nothing work-related leaves this area. If you set up shop on the dining room table, do not leave your notes on the kitchen side. By containing your work to one area, it will ensure nothing spills out into other rooms. If you choose to use a communal area, such as the dining room table, have a box which you can store things in to help make dinner times less chaotic.

Maintain your tidying schedule

Do not feel like you have to tidy the home every day because you’re there. If you start self-isolation off by deep cleaning your home every day because you’re bored, you will probably get fed up with it so much you can’t look at a mop again. Instead, doing small but regular cleans such as one day polish, one day vacuum, one day do the skirting boards and so on, by the end of the week, your home would have had a thorough deep clean – but without taking up too much time. Always do the cleaning that you set for that day to prevent it all building up.

Think about your mental health

Your mental health is always important. But now as we find ourselves separated from family, it’s even more so important to try and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Before many people would worry about how their homes look when guests come round, this is now not an issue. Now we just need to focus on staying fit and healthy – and as comfortable as possible. Our homes are now our place of work and our safe zones.

One way to boost your mental health is to know your spaces. As we mentioned earlier, keep work away from zones where you like to relax, no laptops in the living room or bedroom for example. You want to know when to shut off and if your work laptop is staring at you, you may feel pressured to carry on working. If you’re having to work in one of your ‘relaxing areas’ have a cupboard or draw where you can store anything that doesn’t belong in there.

Hire some help

Let’s be honest, we’re all going through a tough time, and so when you’ve finished working after eight hours, you might not feel like cleaning the kitchen. Hiring a professional house cleaning service will ensure your home is thoroughly cleaned, meaning you don’t have to worry about it consuming your evenings. Some cleaning services such as Molly Maid are now starting to resume and are implementing strict measures to ensure the safety of their customers and staff. Enlisting the help of a professional can help you to relax at the weekends or spend some time with the children so it’s certainly worth considering.